


i stop this game and I look at you again

by rebelcracker



Series: r e d [1]
Category: Red Velvet (K-pop Band), The School for Good and Evil - Soman Chainani
Genre: Blood, Dark Magic, F/M, MAJOR OOF, Mild Horror, Witchcraft, all that good halloweeny stuff, go ahead and read that last tag again, i would tag witch! everyone else but that wouldn’t change anything so, idiot pizza boy! tedros, witch!agatha
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:48:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26884648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rebelcracker/pseuds/rebelcracker
Summary: agatha and tedros were together once. but that was before tedros sank to rock bottom and started delivering pizzas. before agatha joined a coven with a sinister goal.for the witches, their goal is only one obstacle away. first they have one more test to complete, one that reunites agatha with the boy she once loved and a spark in her heart she thought was lost. but in more ways than one, it’s too late now… or is it?as the end draws near, it becomes clear to everyone involved that no matter which side wins, the other will lose everything.
Relationships: Agatha/Tedros (The School for Good and Evil)
Series: r e d [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1971583
Comments: 4
Kudos: 8





	1. the fic

The room mocks Agatha’s insecurity; that’s clearer than the glares the other witches send her when she does something wrong. The walls are painted a boring shade of chestnut, with the only contrast to it - a dark window - hidden behind two billowing drapes. The chair she once sat on still sags from her weight, and the table beside it holds up a pizza decorated with a ring of jewels. Emeralds, diamonds, and rubies refract light in a thousand colors onto the ceiling like they’re pieces of a stained glass window.

Agatha’s so caught up in her own thoughts that she doesn’t notice when Dot, her only friend in this house, steps inside. “Well, Hester and Anadil are still in the bathroom - Anadil has a  _ knife _ , by the way - and Sophie hasn’t left her room yet.” Dot groans, picking apart strands of textured hair so she can scratch her head. “It’s like we’re the only ones in this house who care about being on time. I’m gonna leave now.”

Agatha exhales, her shoulders finally relaxing. “I’ll come with you.” 

“Well…” Dot motions at the pizza. “Do you mind covering that up? I don’t want Hester to lecture us about wasting our time.”

“What else were we supposed to do?” Agatha mutters as she grabs a nearby tablecloth and dumps it over the pizza. 

A door blasts open and laughter rings from the distance. Agatha and Dot stand up as Anadil and Hester enter, grinning at each other with something that isn’t joy in their eyes. Two fresh scars mar both of Hester’s cheeks, and blood red smoke leaks out of them - most likely a healing charm at work. 

“What have you two been up to?”Anadil says in her usual robotic tone. 

“Nothing,” Dot says with too much enthusiasm.

Crossing her arms, Hester scrutinizes the two. “Really? You spent all this time doing nothing?”

“You were supposed to be here too,” Agatha mumbles.

Hester’s eyes flash and she opens her mouth, but before she can speak, the doorbell rings. The witches glance up;  _ Here we go,  _ Agatha thinks.

“Let’s start walking,” Anadil suggests, though it doesn’t sound like a suggestion. “Sophie will come downstairs at any moment. We shouldn’t wait for her.” 

After the others mumble agreement, the witches shuffle through the hallways. As she walks, Agatha tries to memorize the route -  _ left at the purple painting, right after the flickering light, straight past the peeling wallpaper with the flowers  _ \- but her mind collapses halfway through and she switches to trudging after the others, keeping her eyes on the green-carpeted floors.

They emerge in the entryway a minute later. Footsteps echo off the high ceiling and Agatha turns toward the staircase opposite of the front door. Sophie dismounts the stairs and runs up to the group, her short hair bouncing with every step.

“I’m sorry for the delay, but my lipstick wasn’t cooperating,” she says. “You guys understand, right?”

“Um… Try not to be late next time,” Hester says. 

“Says you _ ,” _ Agatha mutters, earning a glare from Hester and Anadil.

The doorbell rings again and Sophie fluffs off her dress. “I’ll get it.”

Anadil frowns. “But-”

“Don’t argue. I did my hair today and I’m not letting it go to waste.” Sophie walks to the door, then turns around and motions for the others to move out of the open. They squeeze into a nearby doorway so they can “make sure Sophie doesn’t do anything reckless,” as Anadil puts it.

Sophie takes a breath, then the door opens. Silence, except for an engine hissing outside. Hester and Anadil glance at each other, whispering questions involving Sophie back and forth.

And then someone speaks: “...Sophie?”

Agatha’s fingers grip the doorframe next to her. She shuts her eyes and prays that it’s not who she thinks it is; then, cautiously, she peeks at the newcomer.

He’s their age, blond and muscular, dressed in the same baseball cap that every other pizza delivery boy wears (though God knows how he sunk so low he had to deliver pizzas). His wide eyes are locked on Sophie.

Agatha stifles a groan. It  _ is  _ him. He’s the one who will fall into their final trap.

“Tedros,” Sophie breathes. 

Anadil clears her throat, but Sophie and Tedros don’t hear her. Anadil tries again; this time Sophie starts and wraps her fingers around the pizza box. “Um, thanks.”

“Just doing my job,” Tedros looks down. “Now, your total.”

“Oh, right. I… left my wallet in my room.”

“Here, let me pay.” Dot sweeps out from the doorway, hands a stack of bills to Tedros and beams at him. “Keep the change.”

“Um, thanks. You’re…Dot?” Tedros shoves the money in his back pocket. “I remember you from Gavaldon High. So you graduated and came here? How have you guys been since graduation?”

“We did,” Sophie says with a nervous chuckle. “Me, Dot, and a couple of friends.”

“Anyone else I know here?”

“Maybe. I don’t know if you remember Anadil, or Hester, or...” Sophie’s smile fades. “Agatha.”

Tedros’s grin disappears in a second. “Wait.  _ Agatha _ ?” 

For the first time, he looks beyond Sophie and catches Agatha’s gaze. She looks away, her cheeks burning red.

Tedros’s response is less subtle. 

“I- I should go,” he stammers, backing toward the door. 

“Tedros- ” Sophie steps forward and reaches for him, but he dodges her easily. He grabs the doorknob, slips out of the house like a shadow. Sophie and Dot surge forward to stop him - 

“Let him go,” Anadil commands. Sophie and Dot freeze, while Agatha only shudders.

Headlights swallow the house as Tedros turns on his car and drives into the night. The coven watches him leave in silence. 

Immediately after, Hester spins around, her smile gone. She narrows her eyes at Agatha as she storms past.

“We almost had him,” Anadil mutters as she walks away, face emotionless as usual. Even when she follows Hester out, Agatha can’t tell what she’s thinking. Sophie, on the other hand, stomps to the stairs and all the way up with her face buried in her hands. Dot leaves a second after, citing some need to work one one of her pieces. 

Agatha is left alone, standing next to the front window and the empty street beyond it, like Agatha has always felt inside this house.

She can say it wasn’t her fault, but she would be lying. Tedros may have made the first move, may have kissed her first, but she kissed him back. All the times when they were together, even when Agatha was supposed to be focusing on school, even when Tedros was supposed to be with someone else, Agatha never thought she might be doing something wrong, not until someone caught them together and Agatha lost more than just him.

But that was four years ago. She’s more mature now. She won't make mistakes like that anymore. 

Sighing, she turns away from the front door and climbs up the stairs.  _ I'd better feed Reaper before he goes crazy _ , she thinks. 

Soon enough, she reaches the top and walks into another hallway, one that goes on and on with no end in sight. Agatha skims Anadil’s collection of bizarre thrift store paintings, only stopping to inspect a particularly large one depicting dark blue waves big enough to swallow her whole.

A sob echoes from somewhere nearby. Agatha turns away from the painting, and her eyebrows draw together. She follows the sound down the hall and notices a shard of light glowing under a door. Pushing it open, she finds herself in the weaponry. 

Countless bookshelves, a window seat, and an one armchair in the middle of the room remain from the last tenant, but the weapons covering every available space change its purpose. Sophie stands in front of the armchair, clutching a crossbow in her hands. Mascara runs down both of her cheeks. With her mouth pressed in a tight line, she lifts the crossbow and fires at the target across from her. A  _ thwish  _ sounds as an arrow lodges itself into the seventh ring. 

“...Pretty good shot,” Agatha says.

Sophie looks over at her, and her eyes narrow. “What?” 

“Sophie…” Agatha closes the door behind her. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I’m fine.” 

“No, you’re not. If you were fine, you wouldn‘t be crying.”Agatha sits down on the carpet, her eyes on the red-and-white tightness of Sophie’s fingers around the crossbow’s handle. 

“Why do you care?” Sophie turns away. “Leave me alone.”

“Just tell me what’s going on.”

“ _Fine_ ,” the witch huffs. “Only if you leave me alone after. It’s just… _him_. It’s always him. I’ve waited for so long to give him what he deserves, and today, he shows up and what do I do? _Nothing._ ” She slumps over, burying her face in her hands. 

“Sophie, I know you've been through a lot with him.”

“Really?” Sophie glared at the other witch. “How would you know about that? After all, you’re only the one who...”

The door opens. Both girls stiffen as Hester steps in. She scans the others’ faces, and her frown deepens. “What the heck are you two doing in here, target practice?”

“Dear God, no.” Sophie turns away, trying to wipe the mascara off her cheeks. “Why would we voluntarily do that sadistic thing?” 

Hester leans against the doorway. “I don’t know… Maybe you could pretend you’re aiming at Tedros.”

Sophie stiffens.

“I always pretend I’m aiming at Anadil, and that seems to help.” Hester glances across the room at her preferred set of knives. 

“You know what?” Sophie’s fingers curl around the crossbow again. “I want to try that. Let’s do it.”

Hester’s lips twist. “Well, I don’t think Anadil will want to be in the same room as anyone until at least tomorrow, and Dot doesn’t have the stomach for target practice. That leaves you, Agatha. Are you in?”

Two pairs of eyes fix on Agatha: Hester’s black and Sophie’s green, both narrowed into slits. Agatha doesn’t think she can survive saying no.

“I have one condition,” she bargains. “If I don’t have to sit on the couch, I’ll do it.”

“Chicken,” Hester grumbles, taking her knives and walking back to the doorway. “You know what? Fine. I’m happy as long as I get to practice.” She turns and her eyes fix on Agatha. “Meet me outside.”

A second later, she’s gone. Agatha and Sophie lock eyes. The former flashes back to her sophomore year, a time when there was no conflict between the two. They walked through the hallways arm in arm, knowing none of the truth and believing anything could separate them. And then everything fell apart.

Sophie’s eyes chill like she’s remembering it too. 

“He was mine first,” she whispers, barely a hiss. “Before you  _ stole  _ him.” She throws the crossbow down on the chair like she can’t stand any reminder of Agatha, grabs a hatchet, and leaves.

Agatha is alone again, only weapons keeping her company. She takes one last look at the crossbow, then scoops it up and leaves.

  
  


“You go first,” Hester says, shoving an apple into Sophie’s hands.

“ _ What?” _ Sophie sputters, almost backing into the magic-fed plants lining the house. “But - but this was your idea! And you know out of all of us here, I need the most practice.”

Hester shrugs. “I’d prefer to throw a couple of knives before I get thrown at. In case something happens.”

“Oh, you're scared? Let me throw this at you right now so I can show you there’s nothing to be afraid of.”

After looking up from loading her crossbow, Agatha sees Hester and Sophie standing together, their figures dark against the plain wall behind them. Dying trees surround the house, robbed of every color except for a dry brown. 

Agatha takes in Sophie’s manicured nails against her hatchet’s wooden handle, the cold fire in her eyes that wasn’t there the day before. Far before this moment, Agatha figured out that her former best friend reacts to bad events in her life in stages. The first is sadness, which she’d obviously passed through the day before. But the second stage - anger - shouldn’t come so quickly. Agatha begins to feel something that she could mistake for sickness but that she knows isn’t.

Hester, on the other hand, doesn’t look fazed. “I’m just saying that out of the three of us, you’re the most likely to hit someone.”

“Oh, for God’s- ” Sophie throws her hatchet at the ground; it lands with its blade buried in the dirt and its handle pointed up at the cloud-covered sky. The witch storms over to a worn-out sofa several feet away from the other two and plunks down on it, clutching the apple like a trophy. “There. Fire away.”

Hester motions at Agatha with her knife. “You first.”

Agatha sighs, unwilling to argue and add to the tension. She loads an arrow into the crossbow and aims for the apple in Sophie’s hands. Exhaling, she pulls the trigger. The arrow flies straight through the middle of the apple without touching Sophie. 

Hester throws a knife a second later; it sails right past Sophie’s head. No one blinks at it. 

Sophie swings her legs off the couch, tossing the apple behind her. “Okay, move. My turn.”

Hester sets down her knives without argument. She walks to the couch, sits and stares at Sophie with no fear in her eyes. 

Sophie throws her hatchet first, which whizzes past Hester’s face far closer than the knife passed her own. Agatha fires her crossbow a second after Sophie, careful to stay far away from Hester's head.

Unblinking, Hester tilts her head at Sophie. “Is that really the best you can do?”

“No,” Sophie snaps. “You want more?”

“Go ahead.” Hester grins.

Sophie surges forward to retrieve her weapon, never looking back at Agatha. Agatha doesn’t mind - she’d rather skip the next round. Looking away from the others, she wonders if she can slip away without being noticed.

That plan gets thrown out of the window fast.

“Agatha?” Hester says sweetly, forcing her to look up again. “While Sophie gets her axe, let’s talk strategy. Why do you think Tedros ran off earlier?” 

Agatha tenses. She glances at Sophie, who keeps her gaze locked on the axe. “I think he panicked,” she says, attempting to conceal her nerves.

“Why?”

“Um…” Agatha bites her lip. “I was in a relationship with him when I wasn’t supposed to be.”

“Really?” Hester cocks her head. “No offense, but  _ you?” _

Agatha can’t meet her eyes. “Uh- ”

Something whizzes past Agatha. She glances behind her and sees the hatchet planted in the fence. 

“Are we going to get stuff done, or are you two going to keep gossiping?” Sophie snaps from behind Hester, arms crossed.

“I thought you liked gossip, but okay.” Hester leans back against the couch. “So if Tedros is afraid of what happened between him and Agatha, how do we calm the fear so he comes inside?”

“Easy.” Sophie looks at her nails. “We open the door and shoot him before he can do anything.”

Hester sighs. “You know we can’t do that. We have to kill him once he falls in love with someone here, otherwise the ritual is ruined.”

Sophie lets out a huff.

A moment passes, then Agatha looks up. “I think I have to apologize.”

The other witches look up, frowning. 

“Why?” Hester asks.

“I… I know Tedros well. Apologizing will at least make him feel a little less paranoid. That might be enough for him to stay.” 

Shrugging, Hester knits her fingers together. “Worth a shot.”

Sophie grumbles under her breath, spins around and storms back to the house.

“What’s her problem?” Hester mutters.

Agatha knows, though she can’t bring herself to say it. Instead she sets down the crossbow. “Hester, I’m going inside now.” 

Sighing, Hester scoops up the apple Sophie threw away and bites into it. “Fine. But you’re putting the weapons away.”

  
  
  
  


When Anadil dials for another pizza and Tedros finally returns, she and Sophie are both so happy they must be faking it.

Anadil opens the door with a smile so big it has to hurt and drags a wide-eyed Tedros inside. Agatha watches from inside one of the many doorways leading deeper into the maze. When Tedros draws near, Agatha follows Anadil’s instructions as well as she can: she walks out of the main hallway pretending she doesn’t know what’s happening, acts surprised when she sees Tedros, then asks him if they can talk for a minute.

Everything goes as planned up to that point. 

Just after Anadil leaves to give the duo “some space,” Agatha takes a breath and begins her apology. “Tedros, I just wanted to say I’m sorry. For making you run away last night. And before that, when we were together. I should have never put you and Sophie- ”

“Stop it.”

Agatha looks up as Tedros walks closer to her.

“You didn’t do anything,” he says. “I’m the one who kissed you first. I’m the one who wanted us to stay together in secret. And I’m the one who ran off like a coward yesterday. Stop blaming everything on yourself like you always do.” 

Agatha tucks her hair behind her ear. “You still remember the night I told you that?”

“I remember  _ everything _ . And I know you do, too.”

The two trade tiny smiles. Agatha’s fades soon after, when she realizes she’s supposed to be sticking to her instructions.

Forget it. Her instructions can wait. 

“So what's happened to you since graduation?” she asks. “I thought you had your inheritance from your dad and your spot at Harvard.”

Tedros chuckles. “Yeah, that didn’t…” His grin collapses. “Shoot.”

“What? What is it?”

Groaning. Tedros glances at his watch, “Sorry. I need to deliver a pizza to some Karen, and I can't be late or she’ll post another bad review and my manager will get mad at  _ everyone. _ Do you mind if I come back later?”

Agatha blinks. “Later?”

“Yeah. Like, in an hour. Now is just not a good time.”

This is  _ not  _ part of the plan. Agatha knows the other witches don’t want any more delays, but talking to Tedros after all these years has made her wonder if she’s really better off doing exactly what they tell her to.

She'll tell them he’ll return in an hour. And that he never breaks his promises, which he doesn’t. Even if he stands her up… well, he’d be much better off if he did. 

“Go ahead,” Agatha says. “I don’t mind.”

Tedros grins, his teeth the only luminous thing in the house. Then he’s gone. As he drives away, Agatha stands next to the door and watches like she was his doting girlfriend.

If only she’d been able to play that role.

  
  


Naturally, when Agatha returns to the entryway and tells the other witches she let Tedros go, Anadil, Hester, and Sophie all look like they’re going to kill her. Agatha isn’t surprised. The punishments for a witch who betrays her coven are… severe, to say the least. But one witch keeps her cool at that moment. 

“Guys, relax,” Dot yawns, lifting her head from the floor for a moment ( _ why is she on the floor? _ Agatha thinks). “If Agatha hadn’t let him go, he would have become suspicious and all of this would have been for nothing. She did the right thing. Besides… I think Tedros will trip over himself to get to her pretty soon.”

All eyes fall on Agatha. She chokes. 

The next hour flies by. The witches arrange themselves around the entryway, though only Agatha has the decency to sit on a chair. While the rest wait patiently and calmly, Agatha worries for Tedros and prays that he doesn’t return. She’s only pulled out of it when Dot randomly complains, “I’m tired.”

The other witches gape at her. “Witches don’t get tired,” Anadil says.

“You haven’t slept  _ at least  _ since we moved in here _ ,” _ Sophie says.

“There’s only one way to restore a witch’s energy, and I am not wasting perfectly good candles on you,” Hester says sternly. 

Dot only yawns, sending the other witches into a panic.

Ten minutes later, they pull an emergency ritual together. They have to make a few substitutions such as using a piano instead of an “elevated platform.” Otherwise the ritual is the same - Dot sits in the center of the piano’s lid and the other witches surround her with candles that burn in red against the black piano. One quick chant from Anadil and all the witches have to do is circle Dot in silence. 

As time progresses, Dot stops yawning and her eyes fill with energy. Agatha watches the whole time even though she’s supposed to be staring straight ahead. If Agatha didn’t, she would never see Dot notice something outside the window and gasp. 

Agatha squints at the window, spotting a flash of a red cap and gold curls before they vanish and only darkness is left. Something sour fills her stomach. Tedros is back.

A few minutes later, he knocks and comes inside. The witches bear fake smiles as they lead him deeper into the labyrinth of their house. He shoots a nervous glance at Agatha, but since she’s already in deep water, she can only smile and wave him off like he has nothing to worry about.

First they drag him into the room with the piano, seat him where Dot used to be, then continue circling. Tedros watches them with his ankles crossed and his arms loosely around his legs. Although the ritual isn't supposed to have any effect on a human, his eyes transform from intrigued to glazed as time passes as if the “ritual” is hypnotizing him.

Soon enough Anadil decides it’s time to move on to something else “before Tedros falls asleep.” Tedros’s eyes return to normal when he steps off the piano; he laughs like nothing happened. He says something to Sophie, beams at Hester, then makes his way toward Agatha. Her mouth falls open.

“You guys have changed a lot since high school,” he says, smiling at her with enough charm to turn her into jelly. “It’s crazy. It’s only been, what- ”

“A year and four months since graduation,” Agatha finishes.

Tedros looks closer at her down-turned lips, and his smile fades. “Is something wrong?”

Not only is he staring at her now, but one of the witches - Agatha doesn’t want to see which one - is too. All of this unwanted attention and pressure makes her eyes burn with rising tears. But she can’t let them out, not with everyone relying on her. Instead she fakes a smile and tells Tedros, “Nothing. I’m fine.”

He opens his mouth to say something else, but Hester appears beside him, asking if he wants to play another game. He nods and lets her lead him away. Agatha is left behind feeling hollow.

The next games, a few innocent-seeming rounds of reverse tag, fill the house with laughter and stampeding footsteps. As Agatha runs, she passes unfamiliar hallways lined by centuries-old lanterns. For every surface they bring to light, they cast shadows onto more; dark creeps into the house behind leather sofas and a lamp with a bizarre lampshade. The group passes pizza-box towers accumulated from countless restaurants and a hallway lined by display cases with polos locked inside.

The cases. Agatha doesn’t like to think about them. Each one commemorates a milestone kill: the first, the twenty-fifth, the one they realized didn't like girls and let go of until Anadil ventured out to get revenge. An outsider who sees these would assume that they were a homage to old jobs that the girls rose above of, but Agatha knows otherwise.

The one at the end of the hall is the most important. It will mark the final kill, the one that will allow the coven to begin the ritual. It’s empty now, but if things go their way tonight, it won’t stay that way. 

As the witches corner Tedros in front of this case, Agatha has a sudden premonition: his shirt locked inside, covered in blood. The laughter around her dulls to nothing as her false smile collapses and a cold sweat coats her palms.

Her vision sharpens. Tedros laughs as he raises his hands in surrender to the coven, then he catches Agatha’s eyes and his face changes to concern. He mouths her name; she can’t hear him.

She takes a step back, something along the lines of “I’m sorry, I can’t” slipping out of her lips. She keeps moving back, away from the case, the witches, Tedros. Her feet catch on the floor and she falls -

Then Dot’s arms are around her and Agatha finds her way back onto her feet. The two limp to the room they were in earlier, and Agatha falls down on the first chair she touches. Dot strokes Agatha’s hair, mumbling soothing words she can’t hear. 

Agatha’s panicked feeling begins to fade, and with it, her hearing returns. Now she’s aware of Anadil telling Tedros some excuse for Agatha’s sudden mood swing and the words coming from Dot’s lips: “It’s okay, Aggie. Tomorrow you won’t have to think about this at all.”

Somehow that only makes Agatha feel even worse. Fortunately, there's a different sound she can focus on: footsteps. A single pair in the hallway, coming from where the others are.  _ Tedros? _ Agatha hopes.

It’s not him.

Sophie’s vague smile collapses as soon as her eyes lock on Agatha, replaced by a scowl and a blaze in her irises like the ones she had during target practice. Agatha feels herself beginning to crumble.

“Don’t ruin this for us,” Sophie snaps before turning away.

Her words pierce Agatha‘s chest, but there’s nothing she can do. Closing her eyes to keep her pain from showing, she stands up. “I’m okay now,” she lies to Dot. “Let’s go back.”

Dot nods and leads her out. 

Even when she rejoins the others, Agatha still doesn’t feel right when she gets up to rejoin the others. There’s still a sick feeling in her stomach, a fear of what will happen to Tedros, and uncertainty as to what she’s supposed to do now. For now, she does what the witches want her to: tell Tedros she’s fine and carry on.

Dot smiles as she leads everyone into the dining room; Agatha only frowns. Yesterday the brass chandelier hanging over them was covered in spiderwebs and the cuckoo clock on the mantel didn’t work, but now the chandelier shines and the clock ticks with an offkey beat. The table, which no one touched before, is now lined with a white table runner and two vases with roses blooming inside of them. Agatha’s eyebrows lower when Dot helps Tedros into one of the chairs next to the table, and again when Dot seats Agatha right next to him.

Agatha grimaces at Tedros, he sends her back a confused grin and mouths,  _ What is this? _ Before he can get an answer, Hester, Anadil and Sophie enter, all grinning as they set a plate of Jell-O down in front of each person. Agatha bites her tongue so she doesn’t gag.

“This game is easy,” Dot tells Tedros with a big grin. “All you have to do is finish off your Jell-O before everyone else does, and you win. But there are two twists: you can't use your hands, and…” She slides a black tube of fabric in front of both Tedros and Agatha. “You’ll be  _ blindfolded. _ ”

Agatha gulps as she lifts the blindfold.

When everyone is seated, Dot instructs everyone to wait for the clock to go off before they begin, then she slips her blindfold over her head with a big smile. Agatha can’t help but gulp as she puts hers on.

Agatha waits far after she stops feeling comfortable. Something about the world being darker when Agatha’s eyes are open than when they’re closed makes her want to tear off the blindfold and run. But she stays in her seat, trying to keep herself from reaching for Tedros’s hand.

The clock finally launches into a funeral march marking the hour. Agatha doesn’t begin, instead she hesitates for a moment, then reaches up and removes her blindfold. The other witches do the same and start moving toward the doorway. Tedros is the only one who thinks the game is real, and as he takes one bite after another of the plate of Jell-O in front of him, Agatha winces.

“ _ Ahem. _ ”

Anadil glares at Agatha from the doorway. Looking down, Agatha follows after them.

The hallways seem even narrower than usual, and the night burns with a black-blue light. In a V-shaped formation, the witches ascend the stairs and head to the weaponry, where each one grabs a weapon. Then they take another route back to the dining room, one that leads past the display cases. Agatha tries her best to keep her eyes on the floor.

She can imagine what the other witches are thinking. They must be fantasizing about the ritual - speaking the chant and opening a door between dimensions, summoning an otherworldly creature to serve the coven, offering it the bodies they've accumulated…

Tedros’s among them.

Agatha stops, and the footsteps around her fade from her hearing. It’s the same panic that she felt before. Agatha puts her hands on the wall to steady herself, hearing snippets of Tedros’s voice float through her head. She’ll be one of the last ones to hear it.

Suddenly her senses return. The others are gone - Agatha doesn’t know, or care, where they are now. She just wishes they would come to the dining room to find Tedros long gone. But that won’t happen… 

Or will it?

Agatha looks over her shoulder at the path leading back to the kitchen, to Tedros. She realizes, more than following the witches to what they think will be glory, this is what she wants.

Moving her hands across the wall, she begins to stumble back to him. Although she expects to collapse, every step gets lighter and faster until instead of stumbling, she’s sprinting. 

When Agatha reaches the dining room, the witches aren’t there, but Tedros still waits at the table as one tear rolls down his cheek. Agatha kneels beside him and snatches the blindfold off his eyes. “Tedros, come on. We have to get out of here.”

He looks at her, blue eyes dazed. “What… The Jell-O…”

Agatha frowns for a second, then her eyes pop open.  _ The potion _ . Dot put a potion in the Jell-O so Tedros wouldn’t be able to get up and leave alone. 

Obviously, Dot didn’t think that someone would help him escape.

Abandoning her crossbow on the table, Agatha places her hands on his chest and concentrates. Magic floods out of her hands, filling Tedros’s chest and working at the potion inside him. It’ll take a few minutes for him to return to normal, but there’s no time to wait.

Agatha wraps her arms around Tedros and helps him to his feet; he mumbles something incoherent. “Come on,” she urges again, pulling him out of the room as fast as she can.

They’re only a room over from the front of the house, so they’re outside in seconds. The night around them glows blue, but nothing glows brighter than Tedros’s still-running car pulled up next to the curb. Agatha only looks away to check the porch for any sign of the witches.

When they reach the car, Tedros tries to grab one of the doors, but his eyes flutter shut and he begins to fall. Agatha grabs him and struggles to keep him up. “Tedros!” she grunts. “Stay with me here-”

_ Thwish.  _ Something darts past Agatha’s head. She whirls around, nothing but a gasp escaping from her lips. 

Sophie stands on the porch, loading another arrow into the crossbow. The other witches flank her with expressionless faces; a chandelier behind them glows just as bright as the car. Agatha can only imagine their reactions to her betrayal, but she’s made her decision now. There’s no going back. 

Sophie fires again; this shot carves a single line into Tedros’s cheek. He’s too far from consciousness to react. Panic flares inside Agatha; she tears open the passenger-side door and shoves Tedros inside before climbing on top of him and slamming the door. 

Another  _ thwish _ alerts Agatha that Sophie’s fired again. Not bothering to consider the awkwardness of her current position, she crawls to the driver's seat, sits down and freezes.

Cars. Agatha’s mortal nemesis. It’s been ages since she last drove, and it was _ not  _ a happy experience. She can’t drive, and obviously Tedros can’t drive - 

Another arrow flies past the car, narrowly missing the front tires. 

_ Do something!  _ Agatha screams at herself, but she only looks at her quivering hands. What should she do? She can’t…

A gold spark flies from one of her fingers, an effect of both emotion and magic.

_ Magic _ .

Agatha raises her hands. She knows what she has to do.

Five minutes later, Agatha throws another wad of bloodied napkins into a plastic bag on the car floor. She grabs a new stack of napkins, presses it to the cut on Tedros’s cheek, and sighs. 

The car jerks into a left turn, sending both Agatha and Tedros flying to the right. Agatha slams her palms against the window to keep herself from smashing into it.

Tedros isn’t so lucky. His head slams into the glass with a  _ crack  _ that cuts a hole in Agatha’s stomach. She lets out a curse, pulls him away from the window and inspects the bump forming on his forehead. He moans. 

Agatha glares at the black apparition swirling around the steering wheel. “Could you please be a little more careful?” she begs.

It doesn’t react. Spirits can’t hear.

Tedros moans again, forcing Agatha to look away from the spirit. He sits up and rubs his head with his fingertips. His fingers then travel to the cut on his cheek and come away dyed red with blood. “What- ”

“You’re awake,” Agatha breathes.

Tedros looks up at her, then at the spirit in front of her actually driving. “The f…  _ Agatha _ . What is going on?”

Obviously Agatha can’t tell him the full truth. That would freak him out even more, and that's the last thing she wants to do. Instead she tells him the lie she’s been practicing since they left: “There was something in the Jell-O. You’re hallucinating.”

He frowns. “But… Your roommates- ”

“They were trying to manipulate you. Listen, I need to get you to the hospital. You’re not in a good condition right now.”

Tedros runs his fingers along the cut again. “How did I even get this?”

“Um… let’s say you tripped and hit a rock.”Agatha grabs a new wad of napkins and hands them to Tedros. “Here. Press this to your cut - that’ll stop the bleeding.”

As Tedros follows her instructions, his eyes fix on the spirit again. “Why aren’t you driving?” 

“Uh - I am,” Agatha lies quickly. 

“You’re not. You’re sitting here talking to me, and you’re not touching the steering wheel  _ or  _ the pedals. And we’re still moving.” 

Agatha takes a breath. “ _ Tedros. _ I told you, you’re hallucinating.”

“Well, it doesn’t feel like it,” he mutters.

Sighing, Agatha turns toward the windshield. “It’s better if you don’t understand.”

“...Agatha?”

She looks back at him. “Yeah?”

“In case I die… I want you to know that I still love you.”

Agatha blinks; that’s the only reaction she can give to that statement. “You’re - you’re not going to die,” she stammers. 

Tedros scoffs. “Really? I have a cut on my cheek that I don’t remember getting, I’m seeing things that can’t possibly be real, and I’m 99 percent sure you’re not telling me the entire truth. So as far as I’m concerned, I’m already dying.”

“Tedros- ”

In the middle of the road, the car begins to slow down as the spirit guides the car toward a nearby curb. Agatha frowns, scanning the dashboard.

“What's happening?” Tedros asks.

“You’re out of gas,” Agatha sighs. “Come on.”

When the car pulls over, the couple leaves the car and stands together on the sidewalk. Agatha looks around. They’ve pulled over next to a motel; its main structure looms over them while a swimming pool casts a cold light. The motel is gated off, but there is something else they can access - a pay phone with graffiti and stickers covering the sides.

“Tedros.” Agatha points at it. “Go ahead and call someone - your boss, 911, I don’t care. Just get some help.”

Tedros reaches over to take her hand. Agatha inhales sharply, but she doesn’t object. They make their way to the payphone together, then Tedros lets go to pull coins out of his pocket, his hands shaking all the while. Agatha, on the other hand, leans against the side of the payphone and keeps an eye on the passing cars. 

Tedros lifts the phone, and as the other end rings, he glances at something next to Agatha. “‘Missing Delivery Boys’?”

Agatha’s eyes pop open. She straightens up and glances at the side of the payphone, where a square-shaped poster depicts forty-nine smiling, innocent boys. Agatha remembers all of them - arriving at the door of the coven’s house, playing games with them, never really knowing what was happening until one of the witches pointed a weapon at them.

She shudders.

“Agatha?” Tedros is staring at her now, his eyes wide. “Do you know something about this?”

Opening her mouth, Agatha struggles for an answer - 

“ _ We’re sorry _ .”

Both Agatha and Tedros glance at the phone as it continues its automated message. “ _ The number you have dialed is unavailable at this time. Please _ \- ”

A car’s door opens. Agatha glances over her shoulder and freezes. 

There was no one else in the car when it drove away from the coven. The witches were all on the porch. And yet… the person standing in front of Agatha proves otherwise.

Sophie slams the door, lifts the crossbow and loads a single arrow into it. She locks eyes with Agatha, and a vision flashes in Agatha’s mind: Tedros’s bloodied shirt in the display case. The same one Agatha had in the hallway earlier. Only now, there’s nothing she can do to prevent it.

Agatha watches as Sophie aims for Tedros’s chest and pulls the trigger.


	2. the moodboards

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> scroll down for a sneak peek at pt 2!

moodboards below~

#1 (10/7)

#2 (10/8)

#3 (10/9)

#4 (10/10)

#5 (10/11)

#6 (10/12)

title (10/13)

\---------------------------------------------------------------------

pt 2 sneak peek!

**Author's Note:**

> (based on red velvet's peekaboo mv)
> 
> happy tagatha day/spooky season everyone! i got this idea at the beach in july for some reason… anyways this was so much fun to write. i don’t really do scary stuff but holy cow, horror-like stuff is fun and i should write this more often. so expect a sequel. or multiple sequels. also kpop mv aus! those are fun and i’m totally up for more, whether it’s more red velvet ones or other groups. ^v^  
> i hope you guys enjoyed this au as much as i did. see you next fic, and don’t forget to leave comments + kudos!
> 
> pinterest board: https://www.pinterest.com/24sparkssa/peekaboo-red-velvet-x-sge-oneshot/  
> peekaboo mv: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uJf2IT2Zh8  
> for goodness's sake watch psycho too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uR8Mrt1IpXg
> 
> \---------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> oct. 30 update
> 
> hey thanks for the great reaction to the original post of this oneshot! i just wanted to let you know that i'm currently working on part 2 and you can find a sneak peek under chapter 2 (moodboards)~ 
> 
> see you guys soon! ~ rebelcracker


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